Skill Area P: Planning a Procedure

When students plan a scientific investigation, they should expect to:

• use scientific knowledge and understanding to turn ideas into a form that can be investigated, and to plan an appropriate strategy;
• decide whether to use evidence from first-hand experience or secondary sources;
• carry out preliminary work and make predictions, where appropriate;
• consider key factors that need to be taken into account when collecting evidence, and how evidence can be collected in contexts in which the variables cannot readily be controlled;
• decide the extent and range of data to be collected, and the techniques, equipment and materials to use.

A Basic Procedure will

• P3a plan to collect valid evidence;
• P3b plan the use of suitable equipment or sources of evidence;
• P3c outline a logical sequence of tasks.

A Good Procedure will

• P4a use scientific knowledge and understanding to identify key factors to vary, control or take into account;
• P4b decide on a suitable extent and range of evidence to be collected.

An Excellent Procedure will

• P5a use relevant information from preliminary work, where appropriate, to inform the plan;
• P5b take into account the need to produce precise and reliable evidence.

Assessment and Grades
I will use the codes above to let you know what skills you have demonstrated. Seeing these codes is a good thing! If any of the codes are missing from a given level, the procedure does not yet meet the standards for that level. I will try to give you some guidance on reaching the next step; you are always free to try to move two levels at once, but this is clearly a more challenging undertaking. For the first marking period, I am happy to accept resubmitted reports with new procedures added as an addendum to the original.